worldcongressfandomcom-20200214-history
Saint Böhling
Saint Frederic Böhling of Eisentrenk was a Rothringen scribe born into the service of the lords of Eisentrenk underneath the Chagyar Khanate in the final years BS, in the midst of the Heroic Age. Frederic was born from the senior line of Bo the Huntsman, a mythical figure from the early Heroic Age and a well-known Rothringen historical figure, even in Frederic's time. Frederic began his education as a scribe in Eisentrenk at an early age and began formally serving the local lords as early as 10 AS. He spent his early career as the recordkeeper for the city's granary, where he strictly monitored the intake and withdrawal of grain by the government's officials. In 14 AS, he discovered a deficiency in the quality of the lord's containers that was resulting in substantial losses of material during transit. This discovery prevented the city from falling short on its projected needs that year and allowed Eisentrenk to pay its tribute to the Khan that year without risking famine. Frederic also had a habit of keeping records of the goings-on of the realm and its neighbours, even at an early age. He provides his own account of the death of Bundukh Chagyar which validates the same account of the event by Saint Leopold's chronicle. During his service with the Rothrigen nobles, he also wrote down the history of several old Rothringen families, including his own. When, in 21 AS, Samson the Great became the Bannerlord of Muddah, news quickly spread across the Heartlands and soon made its way to Eisentrenk. The various Paternalist states of the region were keeping a close eye on Samson's exploits, as the circumstances surrounding Bundukh's death seemed too suspicious to be mere coincidence. Frederic began writing the stories of Samson's exploits as they slowly filtered to him. Unfortunately, the Khanate had taken great steps to suppress discussion of the Heartlands or Samson after Bundukh's death, fearing a Paternalist rebellion. This deeply frustrated Frederic and put him at risk of losing his position for even recording the events in the first place. That said, he found himself captivated by Samson's diplomatic prowess, and his ability to unite the Heartlanders, who were typically stubborn and quarrelling people with little sense of camaraderie. In 25 AS, Frederic abandoned his position in Eisentrenk and fled to the Heartlands on a wagon which he filled with his previous writings and a wealth of paper and ink. Meeting with Samson the Great After a long journey north, which had been delayed by the especially harsh winter of 25 AS, he arrived in Kitzbuhel. Here, he was escorted to Muddah by four Bannermen; Adelmar, Aldhelm, Odo, and Roderich. When he finally arrived, he was met hospitably by Saint Leopold, who himself had abandoned the Khanate. Samson, meanwhile, was travelling with his warband bringing gifts of cattle to the tribes of the White Coast, most notably to the Bannerlord of Andal, which had been the chief rival of Muddah since the foundation of both cities. When he returned to Muddah, Samson met with Frederic and was pleased to have a scribe join his service, knowing the value of record-keeping for maintaining alliances. After this meeting, Frederic took a position as the assistant to Saint Leopold, chronicling the events of the Elderman's life into the Chronicle of Saint Leopold. This piece of writing was then replicated three times. The original was kept sealed away in Muddah's temple. One copy was dispatched to the chief of Pfilstein, the father of Samson's wife Helene. Another was discreetly sent back to Eisentrenk, to be given to Frederic's mentor, who had encouraged his mission to the Heartlands. The third copy was wrapped in the skin of a lion and sent to Andal alongside their Iron Band when Samson officially began his movement to liberate the Heartlanders. Once the campaign began, Frederic joined Samson's retinue, taking notes on their travels, chronicling information they received and the events and results of battles as they occurred. Much of the known information regarding the War of the Heartlands comes from the writings of Frederic, and these writings eventually formed the basis of Saint Böhling's Chronicle, which detailed the events of Samson's life from start to finish. His writings on the battles, however, proved remarkably useful for Samson, as they provided useful hindsight and paved the way for his perfection of the Anti-Cavalry tactics which allowed him to eventually destroy the Chagyar clan outright and cause the collapse of the Mokosh Khanate. After the War of the Heartlands After Samson successfully liberated the Heartlands and Rothringen from the Mokosh, Frederic was faced with a dilemma. His frustrations with the Khanate were what had driven him from his home in Eisentrenk, and now that the Khanate was gone, he had no reason not to return home. But, he'd grown fond of the Heartlanders and had become very fond, too of Samson and Leopold. After a long dialogue with Samson, Frederic decided that Muddah was his new home and that his purpose for the Paternal Spirits was to stay there. He started a family with a woman by the name of Roswitha and after Saint Leopold's death in 34 AS, became the Elderman of Muddah himself. He wrote his Chronicle sometime in the mi- 60s AS, now himself the age that Leopold was when Samson had defeated the Khan. At the end of his chronicle, he speaks rather somberly of the vanishing of Samson. The last of his writings, the Winter Prayer of the Archangel, was not originally part of his chronicle but was canonised by Saint Alger when he created his first compilation of writings regarding the life of Samson. The Midnight Prayer of the Archangel "Wings of light, carry you swiftly across the fields of gold and green. To the barrows where great men do rest. Watch over them, that their bones may rest and know the peace and stillness of mother's night. When the day breaks sing a song for the champions we've lost in the chorus of your winged kin. And when it sets again, we'll meet and know what brothers we have been."